Toilet seat lifter



June 14, 1949. R. B. WARNER 2,473,082

TOILET SEAT LIFTER y Filed Feb. 5, 1946 gumumu;

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INVENTOR. Razz-R7 5. WARNER Patented June 14,. 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT 7 OFFICE 2,473,082 TOILET SEAT LIFTER Robert B. Warner, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application February 5, 1946, Serial No. 645,557

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to toilet bowls and is more particularly designed as an improvement over the toilet bowl attachment shown in applicants United States Patent No. 2,251,770. The principal object lies in the provision of a highly eflicient, easily installed mechanism whereby the seat and lid of a toilet bowl can be opened and closed without contacting the seat and lid with the hands.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the lifting device that it will act to cushion the fall of either the seat or lid to prevent damage thereto or to the toilet bowl.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and eiiiciency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 illustrates the improved attachment as it would appear in the closed position on a typical toilet bowl;

Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating the attachment in the partially opened position;

Fig. 3 is a similar view illustrating the attachment in the fully opened position; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, detail section through the mounting of one of the lifting handles employed in the improved attachment.

In the drawing a conventional toilet bowl is indicated at I6 having the conventional rear .apron 31, seat I I, and lid I2. The seat and lid are mounted on hinged arms I3, which in turn are rotatably mounted on a hinge rod I4. The hinge rod is supported from the bowl I 6 upon bowl brackets I5.

The improved attachment comprises a supporting strap I6 which rests upon the rear apron 31 of the bowl and is clamped thereto by means of the brackets I5, as shown and described in applicants prior Patent No. 2,251,770. The strap I6 terminates in a downwardly turned leg member I1 having a vertical slot I8. A hinge pin I9 is clamped in any desired vertical position in the slot I8 by means of a clamp nut 20 so that it will extend horizontally from the leg I1.

Two compression cylinders 2| are rotatably mounted in side-by-side arrangement on the pin I9. Each of these cylinders contains an air compressing piston 22 which acts to compress air in 2 the lower portion of the cylinder from whence it escapes through a bleed port 23 controlled by a threaded needle valve 24. The outer extremity of each cylinder is closed by means of a guide bushing 25 threaded therein.

A lid-lifting rod 26 extends through the bushing 25 into one of the cylinders 2| and is connected to the piston 22 therein. A seat-lifting rod 21 extends through the bushing 25 of the other cylinder 2| to a connection with the piston 22 therein. The rod 26 extends through and is secured in a cross fitting 29 which is rotatably mounted on a bracket rod 30 projecting from an attachment pad 3|. The pad 3| is secured beneath the lid l2 by means of suitable attachment screws 32. The rod 21 is similarly secured in a cross-fitting 33 which is rotatably mounted on a bracket rod 34 secured to the bottom of the seat I I similarly to the attachment of the bracket rod 30. The rods 26 and 21 terminate in convenient hand grips 35.

It will be noted that the axis of the pin I9 is below the axis of the hinge rod I4. Therefore, the cross-fittings 29 and 33 do not swing on a concentric arc about the pin I9, but approach the latter pin as they swing forwardly and downwardly. Since the rods 26 and 21 are fixed in the fittings 29 and 33, these rods are caused to force their pistons 22 toward the axis of the rod I9 as they swing to the closed position. This eccentric positioning of the axis causes the pistons 22 to compress air in the cylinders 2| as the seat and lid swing downwardly. This compressed air cushions the fall of the lid and seat, and as the air slowly escapes past the needle valves 24, the seat and lid are gently lowered to their closed position. The fittings 29 and 33 may be locked in any desired position along the rods 26 and 21 by means of suitable set screws 36.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claim, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

A self-cushioning seat lifting lever for toilet bowls of the type having a seat supported from hinge brackets mounted on an apron on the bowl, comprising: an elongated supporting strap adapted to be held in place on said apron by said brackets; a downwardly-turned leg member on one extremity of said strap; a hinge pin supported by and extending outwardly from said leg menu oer; an air compression cylinder hingedly mounted at its one extremity on said hinge pin; a piston in said cylinder; a seat lifting rod extending from said piston through the other extremity of said cylinder in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of said seat; and forwardly of the middle of the latter to provide a hand grip; means pivotally connecting the mid-portion of said rod to said seat; and means maintaining said rod in axial alignment with said cylinder so 10 that said rod and said cylinder will act together as a telescoping, eiTort-multiplying, prying lever to lift said seat when the free extremity of said rod is swung upwardly about the axis of said hinge pin,

ROBERT B. WARNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following referemces are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 765,643 Tregoning July 19, 1904 1,386,196 Munn Aug. 2, 1921 2,251,770 Warner Aug. 5, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 342,296 Germany Oct. 15, 1921 

